30 Detainees to Be Freed, Jordan Says

The government said it would free 30 detainees Sunday, most of whom had been held for security reasons or for belonging to banned political parties.

Interior Minister Rajai Dajani said they include leftists, radical Palestinians and Muslim militants. They are being freed under an amnesty granted by King Hussein to mark the formation of the Arab Cooperation Council linking Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Yemen.

In addition, an undisclosed number of other prisoners, mainly suspects in robbery, fraud and other criminal cases, will also be freed shortly, the government said. Most of them had been held only briefly, a security official said.

King Hussein also ordered that convicts who had served half their sentences should be freed and the jail terms of others halved. The amnesty excluded those convicted of spying, rape, premeditated murder or treason.